Israeli intel on Iranian plot said to have spurred decision to sneak Trump off Air Force One

Israel told the United States about the Iranian assassination threat that prompted the US Secret Service to take President Donald Trump off Air Force One and transfer him in a catering truck to a military plane as he prepared to fly out of Turkey last month, the Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing an unnamed US official.

Later Tuesday, Trump confirmed that he had indeed been smuggled off Air Force One in Ankara because the Secret Service and US military told him to switch planes.

Israeli intelligence indicated that Iran was plotting to use shoulder-to-air missiles to take down Trump’s plane, according to the WSJ report.

Senior Trump aides, including Secretary of State Marco Rubio, remained on the plane despite the threat, the official said.

The WSJ reported last month that Israeli intelligence had indicated a new plot was in development to assassinate the US president, but did not provide details.

Two US officials told Channel 12 news at the time that the information related to general dialogue between Iranian officials on potentially assassinating the US president, rather than a specific plot.

Trump, however, denied July 9’s Wall Street Journal report. “No, no. Israel came up with nothing. No, no,” he told the New York Post a day later.

“I’ve been number one [on Iran’s kill list] for a long time, and it’s the way life is,” he added at the time, while warning the United States would “completely decimate and destroy” Iran if it attempts to assassinate the president.

Trump had flown to the NATO summit in Ankara aboard a newly renovated Qatari-donated jet. The trip was the first international travel for the new plane, whose speedy upgrades triggered questions over its cost and security, and took place as hostilities escalated with Iran, which borders Turkey.

Before departing the Turkish capital, Trump said he would instead use an older baby blue Air Force One plane “for old time’s sake” ⁠to RAF Mildenhall in Britain, while the new Qatari-gifted plane stopped at the same base so US service members stationed there could tour the ​aircraft.

But after Trump boarded the old Air Force One in front of cameras in Ankara, he was secretly shuttled by an airport catering truck to a smaller plane, an Air Force C-32A, the Washington Post revealed Monday.

Exclusive: An Iranian assassination threat against President Trump prompted an extraordinary operation in July in which he flew secretly from Turkey on an alternate military aircraft while the White House said he was aboard Air Force One. https://t.co/pDhy28YEmK pic.twitter.com/AcOOidQlfm

— The Washington Post (@washingtonpost) August 11, 2026

The report on Trump being clandestinely put on a third aircraft and quietly whisked out of the country added a fresh layer to just how seriously concerned US security officials were about the threat against the president during the ongoing war with Iran. The regime has been publicly pledging to assassinate Trump since the US killed Iranian IRGC Quds Force Gen. Qassem Soleimani during his first term in 2020. Calls for the US president’s death featured prominently in the recent mourning commemorations for slain supreme leader Ayatollah Ali Khamenei.

Trump confirmed the Washington Post report later Tuesday, telling reporters that he slipped away from Air Force One after the summit in Turkey because the Secret Service and military wanted him on a “different plane.”

“I go by Secret Service and the military. They wanted me to go in a different flight, different plane,” Trump said.

“I just have to do what they say,” Trump continued after a trip to Ohio, while asserting the plan he secretly flew on was “at greater risk.”

“I think actually the plane that I flew on was at greater risk,” he added. “I think it was at greater risk because that would be the plane I think that they would be more likely to go for.”

Trump also stressed that he “doesn’t trust Iran.”

“Are you saying I trust Iran?! I’m the last person to trust Iran,” he insisted. “They’ve lied to me constantly. We have total control over the Hormuz Strait right now… we own it.”

“At some point maybe they’ll do something and get blown away, but right now we’re in a very good position,” Trump further claimed. He described the Islamic Republic as having been “the bully of the Middle East” since its founding in 1979, but “no longer.”

Besides the alleged Iranian plans, there have been multiple assassination attempts against Trump. Most recently, eight men were indicted last month on murder and terrorism conspiracy charges for their alleged roles in a thwarted plot to target officials linked to Israel, including Trump, Vice President JD Vance, other federal officials, trillionaire businessman Elon Musk and “other high-value targets,” at the UFC event at the White House last month.

Federal prosecutors also alleged that the group planned to murder Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, who was not at the event.